Durania Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 Ever since I bought the brat I had the issue of low voltage, dim lights, non-functioning fuel gauge, and a door chime that would only dong, not ding. I replaced the alternator still with little luck. My gauge cluster looked like this twenty four/seven. Me and my olde man yesterday after changing plugs, wires, distributor cap, and rotary button. After finishing up, we decided to take on the task of why my voltage just plain sucks. Previous owner believed it to be related to distributor bushings but, I refused to believe that. We traced the problem down to a small wire in the dash grounding out against the steering column draining half the voltage and making the voltage gauge read at half, like shown in the picture above. We reset the wire into a better spot by wedging a piece of my plug wire box up there and the results were immediate. My radiator fan blew like a STi turbo, my lights lit up like meteors, and my fuel gauge took its respective position at half a tank. I am tickled to death to finally have this problem solved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucky92 Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 :banana: :banana: I hate electrical issues... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank B Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 Did you repair the wire correctly? You could just cut out the bad section and use a butt-connector, or twist and solder the two ends together. It would be a good time to use some zip-ties and secure all the wires under there too. Oh, and good job finding it, I bet it's like having a new car! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durania Posted January 7, 2007 Author Share Posted January 7, 2007 Did you repair the wire correctly? You could just cut out the bad section and use a butt-connector, or twist and solder the two ends together. It would be a good time to use some zip-ties and secure all the wires under there too.Oh, and good job finding it, I bet it's like having a new car! Yes! We did infact use the zip ties to fix the wireing the dude I got it off wasnt the best person to do electical work and it looked super tacky. When I bought it my foot would get tangled in the wires underneath the dash. We secured them properly up inside the dash. It is infact, like driving a new brat. This is a great weight taken off my shoulders' to finally have the electrical issues in the brat fixed. Next thing is the wiper motor and the driver's side axle cause the boot is busted and I will be set. As long as my patience and love for this board holds true...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aba4430 Posted January 8, 2007 Share Posted January 8, 2007 Durania, I have the exact same problem with my 87 Brat. I have half heartedly tried to troubleshoot, but have not made progress. Can you give me some more detail as to the exact location of this wire. Thanks in advance. aba4430 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durania Posted January 8, 2007 Author Share Posted January 8, 2007 Its most to do with a ground issue. On mine, there is a blue wire inside the dash on the left side of the steering wheel that was somehow making contact with the collumn. My best advice is to stick your hand up there with the motor running and try and wiggle some wires around until you have the expected outcome. My father wiggled some wires with his arm inside the dash about 3/4 the way and I watched the voltage meter while he was doing this. It helps to have a friend to help and a good deal of patience with this. What are your symptoms aba? Kyle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aba4430 Posted January 8, 2007 Share Posted January 8, 2007 Same issue, the voltmeter registers @8 to 10 volts, and the best I cab do is ~11.5 volts, after driving for a while. I will check things out over the next few days. Thanks, aba Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durania Posted January 8, 2007 Author Share Posted January 8, 2007 My number 1 clue was that when driving my voltage was like it is shown in the above picture. But, sitting at a red light it would read at half the gauge, my father expalined that its cause it would bump the column like when turning and just over the course of everyday driving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daeron Posted January 8, 2007 Share Posted January 8, 2007 Durania,I have the exact same problem with my 87 Brat. I have half heartedly tried to troubleshoot, but have not made progress. Can you give me some more detail as to the exact location of this wire. Thanks in advance. aba4430 sorry to say it, but Durania merely found and fixed his "magic wire." My brother had a 280ZX that had a magic wire which would cause the spark to go down to half its potency, making for a horrible running engine. He installed an exhaust on the car one year on his xmas vacation, and the car would NOT run afterwards. he put new injectors, new fuel pump, more new stuff in it than I can remember. it wound up going away.. mostly.. but when he came to be autocrossing that same car he embarked on a major effort to find his magic wire and fix it. A Magic wire is any wire that is causing an electircal anomaly. A wire will short out if its insulation becomes brittle, it gets flexed, the insulation cracks, and then the copper wire touches metal. Some Magic wires happen when a bit of wire somehow gets corroded, and builds up too much resistance. The only way (not the only way, I will explain in a second) to find a magic wire is to start your car and wiggle wires around. When you start wiggling in an area and your problem either goes away, or gets worse, or comes back, whatever.. you have located the general area of your magic wire. Sometimes you are lucky, and can take a voltmeter and find your short by looking for continuity to ground, where no such continuity can exist.. in other words, put one lead on a ground, and stick your other lead into any place you can find.. if you get continuity between a wire that is NOT a ground wire, and a chassis ground, then you have found your magic wire. My point is, even if you do in fact have the EXACT same problem he had.. chances are very slim that the actual physical problem is in the same spot. (unless its a common problem area on brats?? I haven't heard so, but I dont own a brat/ea81 so I wouldn't be paying TOO close attention.. Tracing a magic wire is a difficult chore. No, its a b!tch, plain and simple. A Royal Pain in the tuckus, if you catch my drift. After all, how many wires does your car have? Granted, only a given number of those wires are likely to be the cause of Your problem, but just because his symptoms and yours were identical does NOT mean it was the same wire. Like Durania said, he and his dad "took on the task of why my voltage just plain sucks." It is indeed a task to take on. Good luck. Oh, and Durania.. nice going. it is ALWAYS good to hear stories about people finally finding and fixing their various magic wires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durania Posted January 8, 2007 Author Share Posted January 8, 2007 Oh, and Durania.. nice going. it is ALWAYS good to hear stories about people finally finding and fixing their various magic wires. I figured as many posts I put on here referring back to the many electrical issues I have had with the current brat and my dearly departed backfiring hatchback. I am glad to finally have a problem marked off the list. My father just started wiggling wires in the dash around and I was watching the voltage guage and when it shot up to normal I about relieved my bladder in my breeches. Aba, I hope my advice may have given you some relative place to start your task of electrical mayhem, I had been banging my head against the wall on this one for 2 months now and it makes me look forward to driving it twice as more. Thanks guys for all the great, polite and educated advice. This place is a second home to me. Kyle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.